Self-feeder for threshing-machines.



'M. L. HBINEKE.

SELF FEEDER FOR THRESHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEETI.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914,

INVENTOR BY A9. ATTORNEY WlTNESSES THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.

M. L. HEINBKE.

SELF FEEDER FOR THRESHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APILM, 1913.

1,107,51 7. Patented Aug. 18, 19M

2 SHEETSSHEET 2,

M4)? TIN L. HE/N 5K5 Zia/"(2125155 INVENT R 0 fl/fiaawt/ I M BY WM- lw ATTORNEY I'HENORRIS PETERS C04, PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN L. HEINEKE, 0F SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

SELF-FEEDER iron rnitnsnine-ivraonrnns.

T0 am wnom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. HEINEKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented new and use.

ful Improvements in Self- Feeders for Threshing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in band-cutters and feeders for threshing Inachines, clover hullers and similar appliances.

The invention relates more particularly to that form of machine wherein forward and rearward cutters are disposed in advance of the threshing cylinder, or what may be termed the receiving mechanism, a conveyer being provided to advance the material in effective range with respect tothe forward cutter, and a retarder being provided for coaction with the rear cutter.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide an improved form of governing mechanism so as to insure retard of feed of the material when the cutters become choked, and preferably, to provide a governing mechanism which will act to prevent choking of the cutters by retarding advance of material when there is an overfeed, and prior to the actual choking of the cutters.

It is also one of the objects ofthis invention to provide such improved governing mechanism whlch 1s deslgned and arranged to check or retard the advance of material upon bunching or overfeed at any single point along the length of the cutter.

A further object of the invention is to provide main and auxiliary governing de-.

vices which are preferably arranged in coacting relation, but which are capable of independent action with respect to each other, the auxiliary device being under the control of a straw gate disposed in a manner to be actuated by thematerial passing toward one of the cutters.

Other and further objects of the inven tion will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure l is a view in side elevation showing one form of my invention applied to a receiving mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of Specification of Letters Fatent.

Application filed April 14, 1913.

Patented Aug.18, 1914.. Seria1 No. 761,131.

the machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the device of my inventlon. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view, simllar to Fig. 2, with parts omitted for clearness of illustration. Fig. 5 is. a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of a portion of a straw gate, forming a part of my invention.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

As illustrated, the device of my invention is applied to a threshing-machine, as indicated at 1, and which is provided with the usual cylinder 2.

The feeder, involving my invention, is indicated generally as 4, and comprises a casing structure having side walls in which various shafting is mounted. As will be seen by reference toFig. 3, I provide a forward cutter shaft 5, on which may be mounted a cutter which may comprise a plurality of blades 6, serving to cut the bands of the bundles advanced by a conveyer 9. The conveyer 9 passes over a roller 8 on a conveyer shaft 7 and is so disposed that it will ad- Vance the bundles in effective range relative to the forward cutter. A rear cutter shaft 14 is provided with cutting blades 15 which are adapted to coact with blades 13, of a retarder device, mounted on shaft 11, so as to cut or sever any bands which may have escaped the action of the forward cutter, and to also distribute the material so that the samewill pass between the retarder and rearward cutter in a substantially uniform volume throughout the length thereof.

Next referring to the driving mechanism, as shown, 3 designates a pulley on the shaft of cylinder 2, and over which a belt is trained to pulley 34, on the forward cutter shaft 5, and back to pulley 38, on rearward cutter shaft 14. In order to maintain the belt taut, the same is trained about an idler pulley 48, disposed on any suitable form of belt tightener 49. A chain wheel 50 is disposed on the conveyer shaft 7 and a chain wheel 51 is disposed on retarder shaft 11, whereby the latter may be driven from the former by a chain 52. The retarder shaft 11 projects through slots 12 in the. wall of the casing 4, and the shaft 11 is mounted in arms 10, which are likewise mounted on the shaft 7 so as to provide for vertical adjustment of the-retarder shaft 11. Means t tween the rear cutter and the retarder, thereby avoiding the suspension or positioning of the retarder on yielding means, and also avoiding the inaccuracy of action resulting from such yielding mounting of the retarder, as Will hereinafter more fully apear. p Referring to the driving arrangement as shown in Fig. 2, 44 designates a chain wheel mounted on the forward cutter shaft 5, about which, with a chain wheel 41, is trained a chain 45. Wheel 41 is loosely mounted on a stub shaft 43, and to wheel 41 is secured a gear 42, which continuously rotates with wheel 41. Wheel 42 meshes with a gear wheel 40, which is loosely mounted on the, conveyer shaft 7 and which carries a plurality of rollers 53, as will be seen by reference to Figs. 4 and 5. A disk 46. is rigidly mounted on the conveyer shaft 7,

and carries a dog 47 which is controlled by spring 54 to normally act with the rollers 55 to drive the conveyer shaft 7 but which may be thrown out of operative relation with the rollers 53 to throw the conveyershaft 7 out of driven relation, for a purpose which will hereinafter more fully appear.

The foregoing mechanism may be termed a throw-out means or device for the conveyer shaft.

I will now refer more particularly to the governing mechanism which constitutes the main portion of my invention, and also to the main and auxiliary devices for controlling said mechanism. lvleans is provided and disposed, preferably in advance of the rear cutter 15, and between the same and the forward cutter 6, which means is adapted for engagement and actuation by the straw or material passing from the forward to the rearward cutters, and as shown, such means may comprise a straw gate 19. The gate 19 is mounted upon a rock shaft 20, on one end of which is disposed an arm 22. Arm

22 is pivotally connected with a sleeve 55, which may be adjustably held against relative movement in one direction on a rod 23 by a nut 25. A thumb nut 27 is adjustable on the rod 23, and a spring 26 is interposed between the sleeve 55 and the nut 27, to provide for yielding actuation of the rod 23 upon movement of the gate 19, in a direction toward the left of Fig. 3. The gate 19 is preferably slotted, as indicated at 57, in Fig. 6, so as to accommodate the blades 15 when the gate 19 is swung radially inwardly of the Periphery of the cutter to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 3. The pres sure of the material will swing the gate 19 to such position, and the slots will permit the blades 15 to extend through and assist in relieving the feeder from resistance of an over or surplus feed. The gate 19 is preferably co-extensive in length with respect to the length of the rear cutter so that it will respond to any overfeed at either end, or at points intermediate of the ends of the cutter, and the action of the gate 19 is such that it will, under most conditions, act to prevent absolute choking of the rear cutter prior to the existence of such congestion, thereby enabling the operator to not only drive the feeder at a much higher rate but to also obtain an almost uniform speed and thereby increase the efficiency and total output of the feeder because of the infrcquency of stoppage of the conveyer, and the rapid ity with which the rear cutter will resume a normal speed subsequent to the action of'the gate in relieving the feeder from the excess resistance of an overfeed, as will presently appear from the description now to be made of one of the most important features of my invention. A governor 37 is connected in driven relation with shaft 14 of the rear cutter by gears 35 and 36, and the stem of the governor 33 is rigidly and preferably ad- Ijustably connected with the bifurcated end ';of a lever 32. tween its ends upon a pin 31, fixed to any The lever 32 is pivoted besuitable stationary part of the feeder and said lever 32 may be hereinafter termed the main lever. An auxiliary arm 29 is pivoted at one end on the pin 31 and at its other end said arm is provided with a terminal 56, adapted when raised or moved into the path of dog 47, to throw the same out of operative relation with the rollers 53 against the action of spring 54, thereby retarding or permitting the conveyer 9 to stop. It will be understood that when the dog 47 is momentarily thrown out of driven relation with the rollers 53, the conveyer 9 may not actually come to a position of rest if driven at a relatively high speed, but if the dog 47 is held out of engagement with the rollers @53 more than a momentary period, then, the conveyer 9 will come to a position of rest lvery quickly owing to the constant resistance to its advancing movement caused by the pressure of the material under the action of blades 6. Between the ends of arm 29, I provide a plate 30, adapted for engage- Jment by the free end of lever 32, when the latter is moved by the governor in a clockwise direction. Rod 23 extends through plate 30 and arm 29 and i provided with mounted upon a common pivot and are 5 an enlarged head 28 which is normally discapable either of independent actuation posed some distance below the arm 29, so as to provide for a relatively considerable amount of lost motion or upward movement of the rod 23 prior to actual engagement and actuation of the arm 29 by head 28. Coil spring 58, having one end attached to arm 29 and the other to any convenient point below arm 29 on feeder casing 1, is adapted to normally hold terminal 56 out of engagement with dog a7. Then an overfeed is sufficient to engage the head 28 with the arm 29 and to actuate the-throw-out means to retard or stop the conveyer, such action can be effected so as to cut down the feed without necessarily stopping or greatly reducing the speed of the rear cutter 15. It will thus be seen that the auxiliary device is pre cautionary, in a sense, to relieve the feeder from an overplus of feed prior to actual choking of the feeder. Even though the conveyer may be stopped, there may still be such an overplus of feed as will cause a slight retardation of the rear cutter without complete stoppage thereof because of the accumulation of material that may be present between the conveyer and the rear cutter. It will be further seen that when the gate 19 is swung to the dotted line position the action of the blades 15 passing through the gate will tend to force the overfeed of material backwardly toward the conveyer, downwardly through the retarder onto the threshing cylinder, thereby tending to avoid congestion.

The action of the gate 19 will in most cases be due to an overfeed of dry material having sufficient volume to actuate the gate. In cases where an overfeed results from compact damp material, of a lesser volume which might not actuate the gate 19, then, such overfeed will retard the rear cutter 15 and cause the governor to actuate the lever 32 in a clock-wise direction, bringing the free end of the lever 32, into engagement with the plate 30 and raising the arm 29 independently of the rod 23, it being understood that the rod 23 will loosely fit the opening in the plate 30 and arm 29. This action will bring the terminal 56 into engagement with the dog t7 and arrest the conveyer. Terminal 56 is of sufficient width to contact with disk 46 when actuated upward to engage with dog 47, which disk effectively limits the upward movement of said terminal and prevents interference with the rollers 55. It will thus be seen that while the retarder shaft 11 is in fixed adjustable relation with respect to the rear cutter, I am enabled to provide main and auxiliary governing or controlling devices which act au tomatically to prevent an overfeed. It will also be seen that the arm 29 and lever 32 are upon the presence of an overfeed of material of dry, or wet character, and that in some cases where an overfeed results from the volume of dry material at one point of the rear cutter 15, and wet material at another point thereof, the said lever and arm may act jointly or in unison to operate the throw-out device and arrest feeding movement of the conveyer.

While I have herein shown and described one specific embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A feeder comprising in combination, a cutter device, means feeding the material thereto, means actuated by the material prior to engagement thereof by said cutter device, an arm and a lever coacting with said arm both mounted on a common pivot, a throw-out device for said feeding means adapted for actuation by said arm or therethrough by said lever, a lost motion connection between said arm and said material actuating means, and a governor connection between said lever and said cutter device, substantially as described.

2. A feeder comprising in combination, a cutter, a retarder in fixed relation with respect to said cutter, a gate disposed in advance of the cutter with respect to the direction of travel of the material, means for feeding the material to said cutter, and mechanism controlled by said gate for arresting said feeding means upon an overfeed to said cutter, substantially as described.

3. A feeder comprising in combination, a cutter device, means feeding the material thereto, a slotted straw gate, an arm and a lever coacting with said arm both mounted on a common pivot, a. throw-out device for said feeding means adapted for actuation by said arm or therethrough by said lever, said lever and said arm normally held out of throw-out position by a spring member, a disk limiting the upward travel of said arm, and said lever, a lost motion connection between said arm and said material actuation means, and a governor connection between said lever and said cutter device, substantially as described.

1. A feeder comprising in combination, a cutter device, means feeding the material thereto, a slotted straw gate mounted on a rock shaft and adapted for actuation on one side thereof by the fed material, an arm adapted for actuation by said straw gate, a throw-out device for said feeding means adapted for actuation through said arm by said. slotted straw gate, means whereby said straw gate may be actuated beyond a throwout position, an arm and a lever coacting tion between said lever and said cutter de- With said arm both mountid on a common vice, substantially as described.

ivot a throw-out device or said feedin r iiieans adapted for actuation by said arm (51 MARJTIN HEINEKE' therethrough by said lever, a lost motion Witnesses: connection between said arm and said mate- HOWARD K. WEBER, rial actuating means, and a governor connec- EMIL S. GALsTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

